Father’s Among Men, Inc., a 501 c 3 non-profit located at 524 Bartlett Street, Macon, Georgia, has brought together a group of local non-profits to apply for USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Grant # 10.225. The grant, if selected from a highly competitive national field of applications, will provide funding to establish a food incubator in Macon. The groups collaborating are the Lead Agency, Father’s Among Men, Inc., Westside Neighbors United and MaconVegans, all of Macon, Georgia. Longwood Creek Farms in Roberta, Georgia and The Peach Pit, in Fort Valley Georgia, are collaborating also. Students at The College of Health Professions, Mercer University, Department of Public Health, were integral to the grant writing team.

Fred Stervidant, Director at Father’s Among Men, Inc. explains the goals of the grant, “We have designed a 2-year educational program that incorporates the establishment of the food incubator into the weekly curriculum taught at Father’s Among Men, Inc. The body of knowledge taught as part of that program includes Animal Husbandry, Vermiculture, Regenerative Farming, Life Skills, and more. At the completion of the 2 year Federally Funded program, The Roy Street Food Incubator will have infrastructure in place to sustain itself financially into the future.”

The business model laid out in the grant program begins with setting up a poultry farm at 2765 Roy Street. Westside Neighbors United has been conducting Hen House Tours the past year as part of the Macon Chicken Tenders program and will be expanding on that at the food incubator. Director George Crowley explains “At Roy Street we will have our main poultry population. The chicken coops are being built by the apprentices in the program, and when we get finished with those, we will make chicken coops available at no cost to people interested in raising back yard flocks, and teach them how to raise healthy, productive hens.”

The next phase of the incubator is to establish a Vermiculture business at the incubator. Low in start up costs, both these agricultural products have high profit margins and strong retail markets. Vermiculture encompasses the recycling of organic waste to feed the worms, which offers the benefit of keeping it out of the landfill, supporting the regenerative model of the incubator. Both these businesses produce income 12 months a year and can “incubate” new entrepreneurial ventures such as marketing high quality Compost Tea (for plants, not humans) and more. Local, fresh range eggs are also in great demand locally at farmer’s markets and restaurants supporting local farmers.

The grant has a dollar-for-dollar matching fund. This means that for every dollar donated in cash, goods or services, it will be matched with Federal funds if the application is selected. That fund is at @$20,000.00 and growing every day. Donations to date include the lumber, wood, hammers, nails etc. that the chicken coops are built with, and the location on Roy Street is being donated! Cash donations can be made at

, https://go.rallyup.com/cae791/RSXTFU, or Roy Street food incubator | RallyUp.

Several Georgia State Politicians have pledged support for The Roy Street Food Incubator, including Senator Larry Walker, Chair of the Georgia State Agricultural Committee, Senator John Kennedy, and Macon Commissioner Seth Clark.

The grant is due May 3rd, the donation site closes May 2nd. If you want to donate materials or volunteer time, please contact Naomi Rosan [email protected]. Services are included as matching fund donations. Cash donations can be made at

, https://go.rallyup.com/cae791/RSXTFU, or

Roy Street food incubator | RallyUp. For more information on the food incubator contact Mr. Fred Stervidant, [email protected], 478-719-9043.